4 Best Accounting Software for Startups

What’s the one thing every business needs to succeed? Capital. Over 82% of companies fail because they experience cash flow problems. Hiring an accountant or CFO can help, but even with those roles covered, you’ll need accounting software as an SMB.

We help startups – and businesses of all sizes – with accounting software setup to streamline their operations.

You can even automate certain tasks to save your team time and resources.

What software do we recommend?

4 Best Accounting Software for Startups

Below are the tools that we routinely use and integrate into our clients’ businesses. We’ll start with the “big one” first, and it’s a tool that you likely know about already:

1. QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online is one of the world’s most popular accounting tools, and being on the cloud, it can scale with your business as it grows. Intuit, the owner of the platform, states that it has “features that help you get things done.”

You can:

• Connect and sync all of your business bank and credit cards to seamlessly track income and expenses.
• Record payments via QuickBooks Payments to keep your company’s records and books organized.
• Accept payments via checks, credit cards, debit cards or ACH transfers, and even send invoices right through the app.
• Create customized estimates that can be sent to leads. You can even accept signatures online and convert the estimate into an invoice right on QuickBooks Online.
• Manage and pay your bills right in QuickBooks Online.
• Run reports and generate profitability projections.

QuickBooks Online makes it easy to manage your financials all in one central location and will even take care of payroll on some versions.

But, like with any accounting software for startups, setting up QuickBooks Online takes a professional touch. We can help you set up QuickBooks and automate some of the time-consuming processes that your team already handles in-house.

If you use the software properly, it will become a central location for all of your accounting and financial needs.

Of course, this is just the first software that we recommend, and one or a combination of the tools below may be a better fit for your startup.

2. Expensify

Expensify aims to take the pain out of expense management, invoicing and more. 

The platform can help your startup:

• Create and send invoices
• Record payments automatically
• Track and approve expense reports
• Automate payments
• So much more

Custom data reporting and actionable insights help you keep on top of your startup’s finances and make smarter business decisions.

Expensify is trusted by startups in a wide range of industries, and their mobile solutions help you track expenses wherever you are in the world.

3. BILL

BILL makes it easy for startups to automate invoicing, manage expenses, control their budgets and manage other aspects of their finances, including cash flow forecasting.

Startups often struggle with cash flow issues, but a tool like BILL provides the cash flow visibility necessary to make smarter business decisions. What-if scenarios can even help your startup predict how certain decisions will impact your future cash flow.

But what about integrations? BILL can integrate with many accounting softtwares, including QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, Freshbooks and more.

BILL puts a lot of data right at your fingertips, but it also helps you analyze that data and put those insights to work for you.

And with BILL’s Spend and Expense solution, you can easily manage your team’s expenses to help your startup stay on track. When employees spend, you get notified, BILL captures the information, and the transaction can then be reviewed, approved and synced.

BILL can be a huge timesaver for startups. 

In fact, BILL saves an average of $10K and 12 hours of time per month for businesses, which is nothing to sneeze at. Their network has more than 5.8 million members. 

4. Gusto

It takes a village to grow a startup. Your team is the backbone of your business, but having employees complicates things. There’s payroll, HR and people management to consider.

Gusto can assist with all of these tasks and more. With this single platform, your startup can handle:

• Payroll
• Time and attendance tracking
• Employee benefits
• Hiring and onboarding

Gusto also provides detailed insights and reporting, direct deposit options and more. Integration with tools like QuickBooks, Asana, Clover, Dropbox, Expensify and other apps makes it easier to sync data and manage your startup from one central location.

The key is to ensure you setup Gusto properly and with your startup’s individual needs and goals in mind.

Need Help With Your Software Setup?

Accounting software can streamline tasks and save you time while reducing the risk of costly errors. But to maximize the benefits of these tools and solutions, they must be set up properly.

At Redmond Accounting, we specialize in accounting software setup. We can assist your startup with the design, implementation, training and oversight of accounting solutions.

To learn more about our software setup services or how we can help you with your accounting needs, schedule a consultation now!